A Sneak Attack
by J. B. Tilton
Summary: Captain Archer commits an apparent unprovoked attack on an unsuspecting ship.


ENTERPRISE

"A Sneak Attack"

by J. B. Tilton

email: K

Disclaimer: "Star Trek", "Enterprise", and all related characters and events are the sole property of Paramount Pictures, Inc., except for those specifically created by me for this story. This is fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.

Captain Archer commits an apparent unprovoked attack on an unsuspecting ship.

"Sub-Commander?" questioned Captain Archer.

"It appears to be a medium class heavy cargo freighter," responded T'Pol. "It is heavily armored, has electromagnetic shielding, and appears to be capable of high warp velocity."

"Malcolm," said Archer.

"It's heavily armed as well, sir," responded Malcolm. "Four plasma cannon forward, two aft. And there are multiple torpedo launchers. They do not appear to be armed at the moment. Sir, they also appear to have weapons similar to phase pistols."

"Have they detected us yet?" asked Archer.

"I would say no," responded T'Pol. "Their defensive systems are currently offline."

"It's heading on a course of two two seven mark three," interjected Travis. "At high impulse drive."

"We won't get a better chance than this," said Archer. "Travis, set an intercept course, maximum speed. Malcolm, polarize the hull plating and arm all weapons. Fire as soon as we're within range. Hit them with everything we have. Hoshi, I don't want them getting a signal out. As soon as Malcolm opens fire, jam all sub-space carrier frequencies."

"All ready on it, sir," replied Hoshi. "As soon as Lieutenant Reed fires the weapons, they won't be able to get any signal out."

"Okay," said Archer. "We won't get another chance at this. Travis, make one pass over the ship and then turn us back for another run. With any luck, we should be able to get off a second round before they can bring their weapons to bear."

"I'm going to target their warp engines initially, sir," said Malcolm. "That will keep them from attempting to get away."

"Good," responded Archer. "On the second pass, concentrate on the bridge and the impulse engines. Maybe we can make them blind and dead in the water at the same time."

"Do you wish to send a message before we make our first pass, sir?" asked T'Pol.

"No," said Archer. "We have only one objective here. To destroy that ship at any cost. I don't want to give them even a second to defend themselves or launch an attack."

"As you wish," said T'Pol, turning back to her monitor.

"Stand by," ordered Archer.

He waited patiently as the seconds ticked by. He had a good crew. The best crew in Star Fleet. But in a situation such as this, any number of things could go wrong. Finally he turned to Travis.

"Ensign," he said, "alter course. Take us in."

"Aye, sir," responded the helmsman.

The Enterprise turned and headed directly for the ship at warp four point seven. Trip was in engineering coaxing all the speed out of the engines he could get. As they closed on the unsuspecting ship, Archer waited for his crew to carry out his orders.

"In range, Captain," said Travis. "Going to impulse speed."

"Firing all weapons now," said Malcolm as the ship drop from light speed.

"All frequencies jammed, sir," reported Hoshi.

"Captain," said T'Pol, "the ship has activated their shields. They are coming on line now."

As the Enterprise passed the ship, all of its' weapons batteries fired. Multiple plasma cannons and torpedoes struck the ship. But the shielding of the ship prevented any of them doing any damage to the ship itself. As the Enterprise passed, Travis began to turn the Enterprise for another pass.

"Firing again," reported Malcolm.

"Sir," said T'Pol, "I am detecting some dangerous energy outputs from the ship. I would estimate that our initial attack has seriously overloaded its' energy generators. Estimating two point three seconds before their shields collapse completely.

Before Archer could respond, the other ships' shields suddenly vanished. Several of the plasma cannons and torpedoes struck the hull of the ship blasting large pieces of it off into space. As the bridge crew watched, the ship suddenly flared and then exploded into a million pieces.

"It appears," said T'Pol, "that one of our torpedoes struck the engineering section directly. I would estimate that the magnetic containment system was destroyed resulting in a warp core breach."

"Good job, everyone," said Archer smiling. "I want everyone to prepare an evaluation and have it on my desk within the hour."

"Sir," said Hoshi, "we're being hailed."

"On screen," said Archer.

He watched as the visage of Admiral Forrest appeared on the Enterprise view screen. He appeared to be standing on the bridge of a ship instead of his office from where he usually contacted Archer.

"Sir," said Archer.

"Hello, John," said Forrest. "I'm aboard the Crazy Horse. We're scheduled to rendezvous with the Enterprise in just over an hour."

"I didn't realize you would be out here, sir," said Archer.

"Oh, I wouldn't have missed this for the world," said Forrest, smiling. "When Star Fleet approved this test I decided then and there I was going to be on hand to witness the results personally. Dr. Gregorian has told me they have enough data to keep them busy for months."

"I'm glad he's happy, sir," said Archer. "When you asked me to test the new weapons and defensive systems that Star Fleet had been working on, I never expected anything so sophisticated. That ship was much better equipped than I had originally thought it would be."

"We wanted to see just how much pounding it could take," said Forrest. "And as I informed you in the initial briefing, its' weapons systems were set at minimal settings. If it had been able to get off any shots, there wouldn't have been any damage to the Enterprise but we would have been able to determine the actual damage it might have sustained. Unfortunately it appears that the defensive systems still need some work. The ship wasn't able to get off a single shot."

"Perhaps, Admiral," interjected T'Pol, "in the next test the opposing ship should be aware of our presence and intentions."

"Perhaps," said Forrest. "But our intention in this test was to see how a surprise attack with no forewarning would affect the ship. I can assure you, Sub-Commander, the data we've recorded during this test will be used to improve the odds in any later tests. Congratulations on a very successful test, Captain Archer. And congratulations to your crew as well."

"Thank you, sir," said Archer. "I'll pass that on to them."

"Well, John," said Forrest, "I want to have a look at the preliminary results of the test. I'll be joining you in about an hour."

"We look forward to it, sir," said Archer. "I'll have chef prepare something special for your arrival."

"I must admit," said Malcolm, as Forrest's' visage faded from the view screen, "that was quite exhilarating."

"No doubt," said Archer, smiling. "You all did a magnificent job. Sub-Commander, will you pass on the Admirals' congratulations to the entire crew? Along with my own thanks?"

"Certainly, sir," said T'Pol.

"Now," said Archer, heading for the turbo lift, "I need to have a talk with the chef. I believe the Admiral is partial to macaroni and cheese."

The End 


End file.
